Around 800,000 asthma sufferers in England are being forced to go hungry to pay for their medication, a charity said.

Charity Asthma UK said more than a third of patients were facing the “impossible choice” between buying food or life-saving inhalers.

The survey of 9,000 people with asthma, including around 7,500 who paid for their prescription, also found more than one in five (21 per cent) have cut back on paying bills to pay for medication.

This equates to an estimated 480,000 people in England when the figures are extrapolated, Asthma UK said.

Around 2.3 million asthma sufferers pay for prescriptions in England. But 35% of 7,500 surveyed said they had to choose between food and medication, equating to around 805,000 patients.

“The stark reality is that hundreds of thousands of people with asthma are faced with an impossible choice – cut back on essentials like food and bills or cut back on the medication that could save their life,” Dr Samantha Walker, director of research and policy, said.

“People with asthma are struggling to pay for their prescriptions and around a million are cutting back on taking their medication because of the cost.

“This puts them at risk of being hospitalised or even dying from an asthma attack.”

The charity has launched a campaign – Stop Unfair Asthma Prescription Charges – in a bid to make medication free for those with the condition.

Prescription charges have been scrapped in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, while those in England with long-term conditions such as diabetes and epilepsy are entitled to a medical exemption certificate to avoid the cost.